Did anyone else see the Q&A in the magazine about a 4.5 year old who is asking to go to school? The parents had decided to home school.

The advice was to move out of the neighborhood and tell the extended family to shut up. It also described school as "a place where they tell you what to do all day."

I am really surprised that these are considered words from an expert. Isn't the point of homeschooling to have the flexibility to meet your child's needs? In this day and age, the options of designing your own schooling for your child are endless. What is so evil about taking a child to a class on X, Y, or Z? Or joining a co-op? Or anything else! How does that threaten the parents' role as primary educators?

I suppose I am biased because I work in a university model home school academy that is half-time in school, half-time at home. It works wonderfully for our families and is not "a place where we tell kids what to do all day." One of our teachers put it well - some things are just more fun to do in a group.

Not to mention that 4.5 year olds hardly require intensive schooling, at home or otherwise.